Agency to start ranking all universities by end of year
Prof David Some, the Commission for University Education chief executive. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
The commission aims to establish the rankings as a tool that will help students make informed choices while deciding which institution to join.
The ranking will be based on how good a university’s standards are over and above the bare minimum.
The low uptake of modern technologies in Africa has seen universities in the developed world dominate international university rankings.
Kenyan universities will be able to compare their performance against local rivals when a new ranking of the country’s institutions of higher learning is launched later this year.
The Commission on University Education (CUE) yesterday said it would release its first ranking of the institutions by the end of the year, aiming to improve openness and increase competition among the colleges.
David Some, the CUE chief executive, said the ranking would be “multi-dimensional”, meaning that no single university would be ranked top. Instead, colleges will be rated according to performance in different fields such as research or in specific courses such as arts, education and commerce.
Prof Some said the commission aims to establish the rankings as a tool that will help students make informed choices while deciding which institution to join. “If you want to know which university is the best in a certain field, the ranking will be a good reference point,” said Prof Some during the launch of the CUE’s five-year strategic plan.
“The ranking will be based on how good a university’s standards are over and above the bare minimum. We expect that this new ranking will increase competition among universities, helping them to improve their standards.”
Kenya has 22 public and 17 private universities, all of which are expected to feature in the rankings.
Local ranking of the universities would be a break from the past where students and even universities themselves have had to rely on international ratings to weigh the institutions. One of the most popular rankings has been the Webometrics index published by CybermetricsLab, a Madrid-based research group.
In the July 2013 ranking, Strathmore University’s rating in Africa dropped to the lowest level in years as public universities outshone their private peers. Strathmore finished in position 129 in Africa, marking the lowest position for the private institution that was ranked 12th in January 2009.
The University of Nairobi retained its position as Kenya’s top institution of higher learning despite dropping two places to 14 in Africa compared to the January 2013 rankings.
Kenyatta University was third locally having slipped from position 19 in Africa in January to 53 in July. Moi University was fourth in Kenya and 87th in Africa while Egerton University was fifth.
Local universities have been using the Webometrics rankings to market their courses to local and international students. Institutions ranked high also enjoy greater prestige that is key to attracting donors and visiting scholars.
Publication of a local ranking will be a break from the norm mostly because some universities have not been willing to release the information needed to score them in the rankings.
“I know from experience that at times it is not easy getting information from universities but this should not be the case,” said Prof Jacob Kaimenyi, the Education secretary, who launched the strategic plan.
The low uptake of modern technologies in Africa has seen universities in the developed world dominate rankings. Prof Kaimenyi also urged the commission to fast track the development of a portal where universities can upload their research papers for peer review.
The commission announced that it plans to increase registration fees it charges universities and colleges as it seeks to raise Sh2 billion over the next five years.
The CUE says it will soon review the charges for accreditation, annual university fees, course reviews, as well as the licensing of student recruitment agencies, costs that could trickle down to students.
“Of importance, is the plan to change the flat rate annual subscription by universities to a subscription based on student numbers,” the strategic plan says.
“If this is actualised, universities subscription based on the current enrolment of approximately 400,000 will bring to the commission over Sh400 million annually as opposed to the current Sh2 million.”
